If life gives you leftover roast lamb, make lamb Stroganoff!

One of the great things about winter is that all of a sudden I have develop a craving for heary stews and chunky roast joints of meat. Somehow, these just don’t seem to be appropriate in the summer, but as soon as the weather turns chillier they take on a whole new appeal.

Apart from their general deliciousness, there is also the ease-of-cooking aspect, because in both cases the long and slow cooking time means that I get to pop something in the oven, go upstairs, take a bath, have a glass of wine, check e-mails and all of a sudden dinner is ready! Like magic.

Last week, one of the more comforting meals we had was Nigel Slater’s wonderful slow-roast lamb on chickpea mash (soon to be blogged!). This meant that for most of the week, there has been a giant lamb bone with the last of the meat clinging to it sitting in my fridge, daring me to make something with it. Now if it were summer, I would probably have been making lamb and chutney sandwiches for work every day, but seeing as it’s pretty chilly out there, I’ve been gorging on soups from EAT instead. Because we are going away this weekend, though, my mind has recently become more sharply attuned to what’s in the fridge and how I can use it up. Hmm, let’s see… leftover roast lamb, half a punnet of chestnut mushrooms, some cream… Bingo! Lamb Stroganoff!

Of course, the classic dish is beef Stroganoff (traditionalists, avert your eyes!), a recipe usually accepted to have Russian origins and containing beef, sour cream and mushrooms. It seems that there was a 19th century Russian noble called Count Pavel Stroganoff who was something of a gourmet and a bon viveur. The name of the dish is generally attributed to him allegedly because either he or his chef came up with the recipe. But since a recipe by this name appeared in Elena Molokhovets’s classic Russian cookbook in 1861, well before his reputation as a gourmet had developed, it seems more likely that the recipe had been in the Stroganoff family for years and became well-known through Pavel’s entertaining. (Incidentally, the 1861 version calls for beef cubes, rather than strips, cooked with bouillon and mustard – no onions and no mushrooms.)

Seeing as I chucked tradition out of the window when I started cutting up the cooked lamb instead of raw beef (!), I guess I have some leeway as to the ingredients, but I tried to stick to the meat-cream-mushroom formula. And it turned out pretty damn well, even if I say so myself. NOTE – as I was making this up as I went, quantities may not be exact. Increase or decrease as you see fit.

Cube the lamb, crush the garlic and slice the onions and mushrooms. Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and sautee together the onions, garlic and lamb. If the lamb is cooked like mine, sautee the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent and beginng to brown, then add the lamb to heat through. Add the mushrooms at the very end – they need minimal cooking.

Once the mushrooms, onions, lamb and garlic are done, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Stir the flour into the pan juices, stirring to pick up any bits sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook for a minute or two, then add a splash of sherry (optional), the paprika and rosemary, followed by the stock. Mix well and remove from heat before adding the cream, stirring all the time to prevent lumps. Return to heat and stir to get a smooth cauce. (If the sauce is too thick, add a little milk to thin it.)

Stir the lamb, onion and mushroom mix into the sauce, heat through and serve on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes. And, in my case, with gem squash on the side!

I had been eating stroganoff for over two decades, and it was only when I moved to the UK (temporarily for 7 long years) I came across a version including mushrooms! Intriguing, how recipes travel across borders 🙂 (I’m not complaining, of course, being a huge fan of mushrooms)

I won’t even tell you what the first stroganoff I had consisted of….but, hint: it involved opening cans….. This sound lovely – and a perfect use for the leftover lamb….one can’t always make risotto…. And perfect with that little squash!

I’ve never been a fan of lamb but that stroganov looks awfully good! Whenever we are about to serve stroganov (beef) I can never decide if it would be better with mashed potatoes or with egg noodles tossed in butter and poppyseeds (whichever one of those we choose is always my favourite…). That squash looks beautiful! -Elizabeth P.S. That’s really interesting, Pille. I always thought that mushrooms were an essential ingredient in stroganov.

Elizabeth – the only must-have ingredients in a classic stroganoff are beef, onions and smetana/sour cream. Mushrooms seem to be the most popular addition outside the former Soviet Union, for sure, but potatoes or pickled cucumbers can be used, too. There are as many recipes as there are stroganoff-makers:)

I know I shouldn’t be surprised, Pille; I should have realized there would be zillions of variations on stroganov (I just can’t get my fingers to type “stroganoff” :-D) Wow, it looks like the only essential ingredients are beef and sour cream: excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_Stroganoff ……………………………………….. Elena Molokhovets’ classic Russian cookbook (1861) gives the first known recipe for Govjadina po-strogonovski, s gorchitseju “Beef Stroganov with mustard” which involves lightly floured beef cubes (not strips) sautéed, sauced with prepared mustard and bouillon, and finished with a small amount of sour cream: no onions, no mushrooms. ……………………………………… The wikipedia article also says that the classic Russian accompaniment is crisp potato straws. That sounds good!! And in America, it’s rice or noodles. (Oh oh. Now I’ll have FOUR things to choose for a favourite with stroganov!) -Elizabeth P.S. I love the internet! Look what I just found: http://www.foodtimeline.org/

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Jeanne Horak-Druiff is a freelance food and travel writer as well as a recipe developer and photographer. She is a South African by birth and a Londoner by choice who has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Please get in touch to commission work from her. Read More…